7 Questions with Tauck's CEO

Tauck's CEO Dan Mahar.

7 Questions

We Check In With Tauck CEO Dan Mahar.

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Yellowstone National Park.

Mount Kilimanjaro.

For more than 90 years, family-run TAUCK has been a leader in immersive vacations throughout North America and abroad. We checked in with CEO DAN MAHAR just after he christened the 130-passenger Grace, one of two new riverboats joining Tauck’s fleet this year, to find out what’s caught his eye.

FAVORITE RIVER CRUISE: Prague to Budapest. I love Prague and Vienna, and I’m a big Sound of Music fan, so I always enjoy Salzburg. Plus, the Four Seasons where we stay on either end are really special properties.

MOST NOTABLE FEATURE INTRODUCED ON GRACE: We redesigned the rear restaurant, Arthur’s, with an open show kitchen, and we also upgraded the wines included with meals.

CHANGES IN THE RIVER-CRUISER CURRENT: We’ve always had families on board, but are seeing more and more – we recently doubled our family sailings to keep up.

YOU AND YOUR WIFE HAVE FIVE KIDS. WHAT’S YOUR TOP FAMILY TRAVEL RECOMMENDATION? We love traveling all together and do this frequently. An unexpected delight has been taking each of our children, between the ages of 5 and 7, on a one-on-one trip. I highly recommend planning that time together to see the world through their eyes.

TAUCK HAS ALWAYS CHAMPIONED THE NATIONAL PARKS. ANYTHING NEW FOR THIS YEAR’S CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION? We worked with Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan on two new trips: one exploring Appalachia and the Great Smoky Mountains, another that’s a historical freedom-focused journey from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.

FAVORITE U.S. DESTINATION: I keep going back to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole – we go at least once a year to ski, and this summer we’re going to spend two weeks there. My daughter Ellie and I are going to climb the Grand Teton. And the second week we’re going to explore Yellowstone, hike, bike, and spend a day helping to restore the park’s Mormon Row historic barns with 19 family members.

TOP TRAVEL DREAM: Once my youngest is old enough, around ten, I want us all to go on an African safari and climb Kilimanjaro at the end.

Originally appeared in the July 2016 issue of Virtuoso Life.
Portrait by Kevin J. MiyazakiPhotography: (Kilimanjaro) iStock/WLDavies; (Yellowstone) iStock/Wirepec